How Will We Know If Netanyahu Is Serious About Peace?
The Second Coming of 1994, by the Numbers
National surveys dominated today’s political news, and they made unhappy reading for Democrats. Some of the most interesting findings didn’t get widely reported, however. Here they are, with my comments in italics: ABC/WP: Do you think Obama’s economic program is making the economy better, making it worse, or having no effect? Better Worse No effect READ MORE >>
The CBO Director Just Made Fiscal Policy Seem More Confusing. Yes, More Confusing.
Ben Bernanke's “unusually uncertain” may be for our times what Alan Greenspan’s “irrational exuberance” was to the late 1990s—a phrase that captures the dominant mood without providing much policy guidance. READ MORE >>
There Is Only One Way Out of the Recession
Average Americans are noticing what wise economists have been arguing for quite some time: Bubble-driven economic downturns differ qualitatively from standard business-cycle recessions. Not only do they go deeper; GDP takes longer to rebound, and job creation proceeds more slowly. READ MORE >>
Washington’s Power Grid
Late last month, Gallup released fresh state-by-state numbers on the electorate’s ideological and partisan identification. These numbers provide both an X-ray of the structure of political competition and a roadmap for November. READ MORE >>
This Is an Economy Election—And That’s Terrible News for Dems
Beneath the headlines of the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal survey are some key findings about the voter attitudes that will define the terrain of this year’s midterm election. For this Democrat, at least, they are deeply disquieting. READ MORE >>
Can the Republicans Win Back the Senate? I Do the Math.
How To Lower Unemployment
I don’t agree with Paul Krugman about everything. But I do agree with him about this: It’s economically stupid and morally wrong to tolerate high unemployment for an extended period if there’s anything we could responsibly do to avoid it. READ MORE >>
Americans Are Angry and the Parties Are Clueless
It is now conventional wisdom that the Obama administration and congressional Democrats haven’t been able to sell the people on the merits of their economic program. Even so, the results of the most recent Pew Research Center survey are startling. READ MORE >>
